CreativeMornings/Vancouver with Treana Peake – February 1, 2013

Treana Peake is a Canadian fashion designer. In 2005 she founded Obakki, a luxury brand that focuses on urban, easy-to-wear and effortlessly cool clothes for women. Treana believes that collaboration and innovation are the keys to staying current in fashion; her sexy styles evolve season after season thanks to the eclectic input from the fashion collective she oversees. Recently her collections have been featured in top fashion publications such as Vogue, InStyle, and WWD. Her modern vision and progressive working methods have paid off: the Obakki flagship store in Vancouver, Canada won the Governor General’s award, and Obakki retail points span the globe.

Aside from fashion, Treana’s heart has always been in philanthropy; ever since she can remember, she has looked for ways to integrate her two passions. Her vision finally became a reality in 2009, when she launched the Obakki Foundation. Focusing on educational development and clean water projects, the Foundation uses the fashion world as a vehicle to raise funds and awareness for big-picture global issues. Over the past 15 years, Treana has traveled to Africa, living and working in the very environments that she seeks to transform, and getting to know the people that she has committed to empower. She recently launched the Obakki Foundation collection, consisting of screen-printed t-shirts, scarves and totes, with 100% of the proceeds destined to help children in orphanages in Cameroon. Her goal is to bring together artists, musicians, actors and “movers and shakers” to promote self-sufficiency, health and education in African villages.

Treana fully embodies the values and aesthetics of the Obakki customer: she is a wife and mother, a humanitarian, a businesswoman, and a global citizen who understands that true style and a commitment to making the world a better place are by no means mutually exclusive.